All of us have master chefs at home — our mothers and grandmothers, who remain unsung and uncelebrated. Since their cooking skills and heirloom recipes are considered a given, recognition doesn’t come their way. Here is where MAIA, an 8-month old vegetarian restaurant, steps in to intervene. It wants to incorporate mother's and grandmother's recipes in their menu from all over. “How does a mother cook at home? She uses the freshest of ingredients and incorporates nutritious elements. My mother made everything at home from chaats to samosa to dahi bhalla, to different kind of savouries so that we don’t eat outside and eat healthy,” says Sejal Shah who started MAIA with her nephew Ishan Shah last year.
The two are trying to evoke a similar experience for the guests. So dishes like farali patties, patti samosa, aromatic kebabs, shakarkandi chaat, rajma-chawal, baigan bharta, ajwain parantha, makai parantha and others of the ilk make up their menu. And then there are experiments like bisibile arancini, and a highly addictive popcorn shake etc. In chocolate salted caramel pie, jaggery is used alongside refined sugar. A warning: popcorn shake is highly addictive. The spices used are freshly prepared at Ishan and Sejal's homes and so are the pickles. Occasionally, vegetables being grown in the restaurant's garden - basil, thyme, carrots, mint, coriander, chillies also make their way to the food.
Sejal and Ishan Shah don't want it to end at being just a restaurant. Calling it a movement, they want to build it into a platform for mothers and grandmothers, which will enable them to share their recipes and showcase their skill. In their three-floor homely restaurant in Bellandur, the duo have reserved a space, a mother's cook studio for holding workshops, discussions. "A lot of them can ask that what is in it for me? We will share the revenue with them, generated through workshops and classes," says Ishan, who shifted from his birthplace Mumbai to move to Bengaluru.
A lot of thought has gone for new mothers as well for whom, a nursing room has been created. From experiences and observations, Sejal realised the problems breastfeeding mothers face in a public space.
The aesthetics align with the philosophy of the space. Cane lamps and chandeliers, wooden birds hanging over a table, hand-painted wooden tables, bird houses, paintings accentuate the earthiness and homely atmosphere of the restaurant. The paintings by Ishan's mother near the switches go to show the effort to beautify each and every corner of the restaurant. Some tables have board games in cloth like saanp seedi (snakes and ladders) puli meka (goats and tigers) by Ancient Living as their table tops. "If you want to come and spend time, then you can play these games. You can read as well. We are also going to start a library of recipes by mothers, all hand-written. We want to archive these recipes," says Ishan.Also on the cards are a dog's menu and banquet hall.
(Maia: Siri Pristine, Opp, Green Glen Layout, Bellandur)